The French school system and the war on radicalization
How one teacher is trying to redefine the debate about secularism.
In Indonesia, one language for all?
Efforts to instill national unity are diminishing regional identities.
A people without a voice in Nigeria’s oil-producing towns
Poor leadership, corruption and lack of accountability have helped make the Niger-Delta region one of the country’s most underdeveloped areas.
A safe space for Indonesia’s transgender Muslims
A Jakarta school enables students to rediscover their faith.
Saudi “philanthrocapitalism” in Indonesian educational spaces
JAKARTA, Indonesia — An entourage of 1,500 people, consisting of more than 800 delegates, 25 princes and 10 ministers. Over 500 tons of cargo, including two Mercedes Benz limousines and two electric elevators. Seven planes. All for a one-week trip to Indonesia. The grandeur of the proposed visit by King Salman bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud,
It’s tradition: Female genital mutilation in Nigeria
ABUJA, Nigeria — Fourteen-year-old Chioma just recently began menstruating. Her father sits in his village compound with five male friends who happen to be local chiefs to discuss her coming of age and make plans for a special ceremony. “Finally my daughter will be welcomed fully into womanhood and I can start entertaining suitors,” he
Civil liberties and tyrannical majorities
“Everyone has the right to advocate individually or collectively to advance her people, nation, and country… to express her thoughts and attitudes in accordance with her conscience… [and] to communicate and obtain information to develop her personal and social environment.” —Article 28 of the Indonesian constitution (1945)[1] JAKARTA, Indonesia — The back courtyard of the coffee
Not another Western intervention
Can writers transcend archetypes, stereotypes and other misguided expectations? When I met an editor from an American newspaper five years ago, I sought guidance for crafting the perfect pitch. Having just begun working as a journalist in Cairo, I was developing an expertise in Arab political comics. The editor’s response was blunt: The rag was
Empowering girls in schools
DUTSE, Nigeria — On a hot Saturday morning, I visited a government girls’ secondary school in this town on the outskirts of Abuja. There is not much to see except for the market and people selling food and goods along the unpaved, bumpy roads. I traveled there with Bella Ndubuisi, the founder of a leadership